The Natalia Mustangs had a busy weekend at Edgewood Field last Thursday and Friday. Natalia was able to finish the two day event with two wins and two losses as they prepare for another weekend of tournament games.
“It was good to see our kids compete against bigger schools and come out on top,” Coach Kasey Crowther said. “We improved our hitting and fielding, but we struggled to finish close games.”
Memorial– Natalia opened the tournament against the Memorial Minutemen. Natalia out-hit Memorial 9-1 en route to a solid 8-1 victory. Manuel Garcia, Elijah Banda and Luis Buentello led the offense with two hits each during the event.
Sonny Rymers pitched 4.0, allowed one hit, one run, struck out eight and walked two.
Laredo Martin-Natalia faced the 5A Laredo Martin Tigers in the second game of the tourney. Natalia fell in a competitive 2-3 ball game. Natalia out-hit Martin 11-9, but surrendered two defensive errors compared to one by the border squad.
Garcia led the offense with three hits, as Rymers and Buentello had two each. Garcia pitched 4.0, allowed eight hits, three runs two of which were earned and struck out four. Rymers pitched 1.0, allowed one run and walked two.
Stockdale– Friday morning Natalia returned to action vs. the Stockdale Brahmas. Natalia’s sticks were missing in action this game, as the Brahmas belted out ten hits compared to two by Natalia resulting in a 5-2 loss.
Joey Blanquiz and Rymers had the only hits of the day for Natalia during this game. Buentello took the loss, pitching 5.0, allowed ten hits, five runs, struck out three and walked two.
John Jay-Natalia’s final game was vs. 6A John Jay. Natalia was able to pick up a hard fought 4-3 game over the Mustangs from the west side of San Antonio. Natalia and Jay finished with six hits each in the game as Natalia had two defensive errors compared to 0 by Jay.
Laque led the offense with two hits, as L. Buentello, Chris Saldana, Blanquiz and E. Banda had hits.
C. Wootan pitched 1.1, allowed two hits, one run, struck out one and walked three. Rymers pitched 2.2, allowed four hits, two runs one of which was earned, struck out two and walked one.
Upcoming Games– This weekend, Natalia travels to the Pearsall Tournament. See the tourney story for further details.
By Eric Smith
Staff Writer